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Category: Anime Today

Many people today like to refer to the famed Studio Ghibli director, Hayao Miyazaki, as the proverbial “Disney of Japan,” but this analogy doesn’t seem to stand for very long upon analysis. While Miyazaki has surely gained enormous fame domestically, and even worldwide, his approach to animation and impact upon the industry both differs greatly… Read More Anime Today: Young Black Jack’s Cognitive Dissonance

One of the (many) funny aspects of One Punch Man is the relationship between Saitama and Genos. With very different (and equally clueless) personalities, the two are quite a match. Genos adopts Saitama as his mentor early in the series, but despite their closeness, the two never seem to be on the same wavelength. In… Read More Anime Today: Discipling and Parenting, Saitama-Style

I’m totally digging Beautiful Bones. It seemed silly at first, like, “Let’s get a pretty girl, give her a young boyfriend-type, and make her singularly obsessed with bones. I smell a hit!” But the show quickly hooked me. I enjoyed the character interactions, the animation has some key, sweeping moments, and the show’s just been… Read More Anime Today: Beautiful Bones and Beautiful Death

I’ll be covering Anime Today as our normal columnist, Japes, takes a break to deal with, you know, real life. I was not a fan of season one of Noragami. The anime-only ending really killed it for me – it felt so patchwork and underwhelming and, well, “anime only” that it left me with bitter… Read More Anime Today: Worshiping Bishamon

Fellow Beneath the Tangles writer, Kaze, and I share many things in common, but one always immediately comes to mind: We are both hopelessly critical of what we consume. I think nothing illustrates this more clearly recently than the general reception of Charlotte. I think I can say with relative certainty, albeit having not consulted… Read More Anime Today: In the Minority

Confession time: I am kind of an obsessive maniac. Moderation is not a word in my dictionary, or at least not one I make use of very often. Because of this, when I was younger I spent far too much time playing video games in marathon sessions or reading novels late into the night. On the… Read More Anime Today: When People Unexpectedly Enrich Your Life

If there’s one complaint that has arisen more than any other regarding Ore Monogatari, even from our own writers, it’s that the show’s characters are undeniably one-dimensional. As much as I enjoy and look forward to watching a new episode each and every week, not even I can deny the predictable nature of each personality.… Read More Anime Today: Childlike Innocence

After a season-long break, The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls is back, and I for one could not be happier. As my numerous posts about this show earlier this year might indicate, I am a big fan of this show, as well as the original iM@S anime. The second half of Cinderella Girls continues right where the… Read More Anime Today: Different Goals for Cinderella Girls

This season, the new show that surprised me with how much I liked it is Joukamichi no Dandelion, a.k.a. Castle Town Dandelion. The premise sounds like some kind of faux-reality-TV show: nine siblings of a royal family with superpowers mingle with commoners in a normal suburb, but they have their lives monitored by cameras as… Read More Anime Today: No Dandelions in God’s Castle Town